


Fireball

by betheflame



Series: Steve Tony Games: Flame's Fluff Fills [21]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Adopted Peter Parker, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, M/M, Parent Steve Rogers, Parent Tony Stark, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:40:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25629871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/betheflame/pseuds/betheflame
Summary: “Why does Peter have an empty bottle of Fireball in his trash?”“An excellent question.”The men were silent for a minute.“He gets home in an hour, right?” Steve asked quietly.“It has to be innocent, right? He’s not dumb, he wouldn’t get wasted and then leave the evidence in his trash?” Tony said.“One would think,” Steve said.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Steve Rogers & Tony Stark, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: Steve Tony Games: Flame's Fluff Fills [21]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1781239
Comments: 35
Kudos: 273
Collections: Team Fluff





	Fireball

**Author's Note:**

> Fluffy Fill for the Steve Tony Games - because hard conversations wrapped in love count as fluff in my book.

* * *

Tony cocked his head from side to side as he stared at his son’s trash can. His fifteen-year-old son’s trash can. In Peter’s childhood bedroom - the one that Steve and Tony and Bucky and Nat and Pepper and Rhodey had painted and built furniture for at most of Peter’s developmental steps - he couldn’t stop staring at the trash can.

“Steve,” Tony called, not tearing his eyes away. “Can you come up here?”

Tony heard the heavy footsteps of his husband of twenty-two years clomp up the stairs and into Peter’s room. “What’s up? What are we… is that an empty bottle of Fireball?”

“It appears so.”

“Why does Peter have an empty bottle of Fireball in his trash?”

“An excellent question.”

The men were silent for a minute.

“He gets home in an hour, right?” Steve asked quietly.

“It has to be innocent, right? He’s not dumb, he wouldn’t get wasted and then leave the evidence in his trash?” Tony said.

“One would think,” Steve said. He was quiet for a minute and then spoke again. “Flash was over here last night for the study group. Maybe it’s his?”

“That’ll be a fun phone call,” Tony snorted. Neither of the Stark-Rogers liked Flash or his parents.

“One hour and we’ll know.”

* * *

“Dad, Pops, you would not believe what happened at, whoa why are you both sitting in the serious spots?”

Peter barreled into the living room an hour later from babysitting the Rhodes kids and was shocked to find his fathers sitting in the formal living room.

“Pete, can you sit down? We have a question.”

His dad’s voice was tight and Peter didn’t know what was happening. Unless… but he’d buried that… and…

Pops cleared his throat. “Your dad wanted to do you a favor and do your laundry since you’ve been working so hard on that physics project. So he went into your room to collect it and found this in the trash.”

_Fuck_. Peter’s stomach dropped to the bottom of his toes as the empty bottle of Fireball was slid onto the coffee table.

“We’d love an explanation,” Dad said, with a calm that Peter was sure was an act.

Peter took three deep breaths in through his nose as he debated his options. He could lie and tell them it was Flash’s and he was just emptying his bookbag at Peter’s. He could tell a kind of truth and say that he only had one sip. But…

He looked up at his fathers and saw the unadorned pain in both of their eyes. He’d been clawing his way back to trust ever since the issue with Emily the year before and if he didn’t just own everything right now…

“Flash and I did shots when we studied last night.”

His fathers both deflated a little and he didn’t know how to interpret that.

“Thanks for being honest, Petey,” Pops said.

“What’s our policy on you consuming alcohol?” Dad asked,

“I can’t except in your presence,” Peter replied dutifully.

“And Fireball with Flash was worth breaking our trust again?”

Well, when he put it like that.

“Peter,” Dad continued, “we know exactly three things about your birth mother. We know she was a dancer, we know she wanted to remain completely anonymous forever, and we know she was a functional alcoholic from a long lineage of alcoholics. The rule isn’t because we’re killjoys, it’s because the half of your DNA we do know carries a potential ticking time bomb and we’re trying to keep you safe.”

His voice rose throughout the speech until at the end he was yelling.

“I know,” Peter said softly.

“Good,” Pops replied, and Peter saw him put his hand on Dad’s thigh, as though to cut him off. His fathers were very rarely both mad at the same time, and he was grateful for that system Uncle Bucky told him they worked out. The fury of both of them was paralyzing - he’d only faced it twice so far and wasn’t anxious to do it again.

“I have chips,” Dad said. “Not for booze, but for pills.”

Peter’s head shot up from where he’d been staring at the floor and looked at his Dad. He tried to form words and found that he couldn’t.

“We kept it quiet, the rehab, and then your Uncle Bucky was my sober companion for a few years -”

Pops snorted. “Just imagine Uncle Bucky following Dad around and swatting at him whenever he picked up a pill bottle.”

“He growled a lot,” Dad admitted. “But I’m grateful. Our family is why I don’t use anymore, but I know with all of my being that I wish someone had stopped me from taking that first hit. So on the off chance that you have that part of your mother in you? I’m going to everything in my fucking power as your father to make sure you never have to live through the hell I did.”

“I don’t know what to say,” Peter whispered, his brain whirring faster than he could process.

“Just promise me you’ll remember - best you can - that choices have consequences,” Dad replied, “and that a simple shot is not always just that.”

Peter nodded.

“And, obviously, you’re grounded,” Pops contributed. “So if you could bring your laptop and Switch down, you’ll get them back next week.”

“What’s my book report this time,” Peter said. It was a policy in the Stark-Rogers family that when Peter screwed up, he had to atone through both punishment and learning. Since he had extra time on his hands since he couldn’t manage his villagers for hours on end, his dads had him read. He’d then do a one paragraph summary for them about what he learned from the book. He actually didn’t hate it - the idea of turning bad choices into an opportunity for growth had been drilled into him at an early age, after all.

“Haven’t decided,” Dad replied, “but we texted Auntie Pep.”

“Then I’m absolutely reading a Gloria Steinem book,” Peter said with a sigh.

“Good,” Pops said. “I’ll read it with you.”

That also always happened - that whatever book Peter read, Pops did, too.

“We good, kid?” Dad said with an even stare and Peter nodded.

“We good.”

* * *

Steve was proud that Tony held it completely together until they were safely in their bedroom later that evening. The minute that door clicked closed, however, and his limpet of a husband was wrapped around him a sobbing.

“Shh, baby,” Steve soothed Tony. “You did a good and brave thing and he needed to hear it.”

“He’s fifteen and now he knows I’m an addict and that feels too young to -”

“When was the first time you ODd?”

“Seventeen.”

“You did a good and brave thing, baby,” Steve repeated and Tony sniffled for a few more minutes.

“Fatherhood is fun,” Tony said sarcastically.

“10/10, would recommend,” Steve replied.

“I love you,” Tony whispered.

“I love you, too,” Steve whispered back.

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked the story, I'd love to know! Kudos and comments are life giving. If you're not sure what to say in the comment, know that I take keyboard smashes and emojis as full love. So, if you liked it more than just a kudos, dropping a ":heart:" is great and I thank you in advance.
> 
> Find me on [Twitter](http://www.twitter.com/betheflame1) or [Tumblr](http://betheflame.tumblr.com) for more on these yahoos. You can also submit prompts and cajole me into writing faster - it usually works. If you're on Discord, I'm definitely there, too, and probably hanging in the [Put on the Suit Stony Server. ](https://discord.gg/z5WSqbS)  
>   
> Oh! And FestiveFerret and I have a [fandom podcast](http://www.podonthesuit.com) if you're so inclined.  
>   
> 


End file.
